“Dave, you may think this is weird, but I was actually proud of the way you fought back against me and Derrick. It took a lot of courage for you to do that. It was a big risk on your part. I guess Derrick and I had stereotyped you as a wimp, a reluctant but submissive cuckold. Instead, you acted like I would have wanted a husband of mine to act. Too bad I didn’t act like the way I would have wanted a wife to act.
“I appreciate you letting me have access to Chelsea. We have spoken and I see I have a lot of making up to do with her. I just hope she lets me stay as part of her life after she becomes an adult.
“If you want to know what I see as my future, I can tell you that a lot of what I will be doing is kicking myself for trashing the most wonderful marriage I could ever have hoped for. I honestly think I have changed enough that I could be the kind of woman you thought you had married in the first place. Too bad, I didn’t make that change before I fucked up our lives. I can honestly say that you deserve a better wife than I became.
“I will cherish the opportunities to be around you because of Chelsea and future grandchildren, but I will say this one time and one time only: If you were to give me a second chance, I would do anything just to be near you again, married or not. My offer will not expire.
“I will move on. I don’t plan on dating but that may change after being horny for a long time. I may fuck other men, but I will never make love to another man other than you.
“I love you.” She signed the divorce papers and left.
I still loved her in spite of all she did betraying and disrespecting me. Her offer to do anything did cause a growth below my belt. She was a very attractive female, but so are some snakes. My temptation to grab her in my arms and forgive her was fleeting. I could still see her in our bedroom standing over me naked, detailing the new terms of our marriage and my cuckoldery.
Kristen was able to get a new job in the next town over. She and Chelsea gradually built back a relationship. It was over six months before Chelsea told me that she believed that her mom had changed for the better. Kristen was allowed to join us at Thanksgiving and Christmas, along with her mother and father who doted on Chelsea. It stayed that way until I started dating someone seriously. I had Chelsea to thank for that.
Chelsea was in her junior year in college when she announced she had found her man. She had told him of how her mother had betrayed me and that she was very wary of extra-marital relationships. Their engagement was unusually long because of that. They lived together after both graduated and had jobs before they agreed on getting married. In the process, I was introduced to her fiancé’s mother, Valerie, a widow about my age. We were together at functions with the kids but then decided to be together without the kids. It was not a ‘whiz-bang, fireworks, love-at-first sight’ thing. It was more like a ‘I like you so why not’ kind of thing.
Neither of us mentioned marriage, but soon we realized that it would be more convenient and economical to move in together. Our love making was very satisfying although not earth-moving. We were a couple not seeing the need to define ourselves otherwise.
Kristen stayed single but Chelsea said she had a fuckbuddy. She had been proposed to but didn’t want to risk marriage again. She was still not confident she was not totally trustworthy. She eagerly moved into being a grandmother and we saw each other in that capacity a lot. Sometimes, I caught her looking like ‘I could have had this all if I hadn’t screwed up.’ Kristen was seen to sniffle and wipe a tear away before going back to being Nana.
I stayed at WAMB until I retired. By that time, I had inherited the station and sold it as part of retiring. Valerie and I moved to Costa Rica where our meager retirement funds allowed us to live a good life. Chelsea didn’t mind visiting us and kept ‘threatening’ to move there too as life in the United States got crazier and crazier. We told her that we were ready to help if she ever made that choice.
Now I have finished my little story and looking back on my life, I was glad of one thing in my life more than any other: I had done something about it.